Sunday, February 12, 2017

ZooWeird 74

A doggerel series
about odd or little-known animals.

Shoebill: Today’s
strange animal is the Shoebill (also
known as Whalehead) with its name deriving from its massive shoe-shaped bill. They
live in the tropical east Africa and are mainly found in swamps ranging from
Sudan to Zambia. They are very large stork-like birds. Shoebills are solitary
animals that hardly ever form groups. Even the breeding pairs are rarely seen
together. These animals remain silent for the most part of their lives although
they sometimes participate in “bill-clattering,” which they maily employ as a
greeting sound near the nest. Shoebills are carnivorous animals, usually
hunting in shallow, muddy waters with their favorite spots being waters that
have little oxygen. In these waters fish have to surface more often and as a
result hunting becomes much easier. (All animal info from http://www.strangeanimals.info/2011/09/shoebill.html#ixzz4YE1FL900)